Following the non-renewal of 30 faculty members contracts, University officials indicated the money saved will go to faculty salaries.
The University allocated the $1.4 million saved from the cuts to compensating remaining faculty salaries, said University Spokesperson Dave Kielmeyer.
The University announced the non-renewals of 30 non-tenure-track faculty members’ contracts next fall, reducing the faculty by 11 percent. An additional 12 faculty members on one-year, non-renewable contracts will also not return next fall.
Those opposed to the cuts argue it will have a detrimental effect on the quality of education, increasing class sizes and faculty workload. But administrators argue the cuts keep costs down for students at a time of dwindling state funds.
Since the administration announced the cuts in early December, there has been a backlash across campus, particularly from the Faculty Association.
The Faculty Association organized a protest at the Dec. 6 Board of Trustees meeting and also handed out fliers to potential students at Preview Day the next day.
“Parents are interested. Potential students are interested,” said David Jackson, president of the Faculty Association. “They have the right to know the facts about the institution they’re considering.”
But so far Jackson said he has not felt the administration has been receptive to the concerns the Faculty Association has raised.
“This administration seems to be fairly impenetrable and tone deaf,” Jackson said.
Still, Jackson plans to organize more events to protest the cuts next semester, pushing the administration to rescind the cuts. He singled out President’s Day as a time the Faculty Association will take action, as high schools have the day off and will tour the University.
“This isn’t over,” Jackson said. “If they think that’s the end of our campaign against these cuts, they’d be mistaken.”
But University President Mary Ellen Mazey said she will not waver.
“We made our decision,” Mazey said.
Backlash to the cuts has also extended beyond just the Faculty Association. Students have also been vocal in their opposition to the cuts.
Freshman Aidan Hubbell-Staeble has hung up signs reading “Who’s firing your professors?”
“We just wanted people to ask that question,” Hubbell-Staeble said. “I’ve talked to a couple people on campus and they said they actually ended up Googling [it.]”
Hubbell-Staeble, whose mother is an English professor, said he is worried about the quality of education he will get at the University in the coming years as a result of these cuts.
“I’ve had a great experience with professors here,” Hubbell-Staeble said. “They’ve all been willing to help me when I needed help.”
But some of the tactics have been more controversial than what Hubbell-Staeble has done. An unknown person pinned fliers throughout campus that read “BGFU” on top of a picture of Mazey. Another student ran through the Union on Preview Day littering the dining area with fliers. The fliers questioned why the University cut faculty when Mazey’s recently received a two percent salary increase and $50,000 bonus, the latter of which she donated to scholarships.
“I don’t know that those are particularly tasteful,” Kielmeyer said, “But people certainly have a right to free speech.”
Jackson made it clear the Faculty Association was not behind these actions, but that the administration should still consider the implications of them.
“We would not choose to communicate that way,” Jackson said. “[But] it certainly shows … there are lots of people who are very, very angry about these cuts.”
